40 ans: mode d'emploi

Pete (Paul Rudd) is a family man married with Debbie (Leslie Mann) and they have two daughters, the teenager Sadie (Maude Apatow) and the girl Charlotte (Iris Apatow). Paul and Debbie, who lies about her age, are turning 40 and they are planning a party for Paul. He lost his job in Sony and now he has a nostalgic record label with only one artist, the British rock singer and songwriter Graham Parker that was successful in the period from the 60's to the 80's. Debbie has a fashion store with two employees, and she has just found an embezzlement of US$ 12,000.00. She was poisoned by the inefficient Jodi (Charlyne Yi) and suspects of the productive saleswoman Desi (Megan Fox).

Debbie has issues with her estranged father Oliver (John Lithgow) while Pete secretly supports his idle father Larry (Albert Brooks). Debbie meets her father and invites him for the party. Pete comes to the edge with the bankruptcy since he needs to sell their home and Debbie finds that she is pregnant but she hides from Pete. In the party, Pete has a nervous breakdown but Debbie is there to help him.

"This is 40" is a dramatic comedy about relationship, modern marriage and mid-life crisis. I believe that every viewer that is more than forty years old and married with children will identify problems that he or she might have lived. There are many hilarious scenes and references to movies and shows but also moments of drama that are immediately relieved by a joke. It is also funny because I have recently watched all the 117 episodes (and not 114) of "Lost" in five weeks, the same way Sadie did. Just as a curiosity, Leslie Mann is married with the director and writer Judd Apatow and the two girls (Maude and Iris) are their daughters. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Bem-vindo aos 40" ("Welcome to the 40")

This movie has its moments, but overall its ruined by being overly long and tons of tired foul language. Highlights include the scene with Melissa McCarthy where her language is perfect, most any scene with the two actresses playing the two daughters and the Asian actress who plays one of the lead's employees. Worth a view for sure, but sad as it could have easily been a 10.

This is 40 is a complete surprise. A straight-forward slice of life that follows its protagonists as they cross the great, unseen barrier into their fifth decade, the film is naturally funnier, more poignant, and more engaging than might be expected. With laughter coming from the both the banalities of life and its heavier moments, the film rarely sinks into caricature and keeps tone-killing silliness to a minimum.

First and foremost, this is the first movie I have seen in years that actually has something to do with my life. I read through the threads, and I wasn't surprised that people found it depressing. They were probably expecting to see Knocked Up or I Love You Man. It lacks the stoner cool single guys being all zany about porn. Instead the comedy comes from things that forty somethings deal with: mortgage, kids, hormones, diet, expectations, etc. I rarely get to see a movie about people my age or having problems and solutions that don't involve guns, drugs, superheroes, cartoon birds, and people who have 8 figure life styles without ever having a job. Okay, so he's a groovy record co. guy, and she has a chic boutique.... Definitely way more California than my life, but still it is pretty real to life. I will concede that there are some gags that don't quite work, but like I said: I'm stickin' up for this one because I think it is getting a bad rap based on expectations. Thanks to Judd Apatow for making a movie about life instead of (hip jobs aside) hyper-situational life.

Wow, this film seems to be generating a lot of hostility: I am not quite sure what's behind it. I guess people went into this expecting a sitcom-like, snappy feel good film, like 40 Year Old Virgin? Or goofy, happy-go-lucky characters such as Seth Rogen's posse in Knocked Up? Did these people not see Funny People? I am all in favor of letting Mr. Apatow develop as a director. To be clear here: this film follows Pete and Debbie's story arc from a few years after the events in Knocked Up. The are both turning 40, and neither is handling it particularly gracefully, but they weren't handling their lives and relationships particularly well in the earlier film. I found this movie to have a Larry David Show quality to it: however irrationally and offensively our protagonists behave, there are always others who will go them one better (or worse). Yes, Debbie and Pete are defective human beings; but so, I would argue, are all the people inhabiting this world, excepting the very gentlemanly Graham Parker (and Billie Joe Armstrong). Such is the stuff of comedy. Are these caricatures? Surely, and yet they are caricatures of realities which I see every day. Is the teenage daughter given to histrionics? You bet, but that is what teenagers are like, and the fact remains that teenagers turn their parents into equally irrational and histrionic characters in that relationship; I actually found it refreshing to find a teenager in a movie, played by a teenager, who isn't a wisecracking savant commenting on the follies of her elders.

To sum up, this felt to me like a mature work from a good director. There are moments of farce, slapstick, and outrageous humor, surrounded by moments where things just happen. For people who can't handle that kind of pacing, you are welcome to stay out of movie theaters, and sit in front of your TV sets: the networks are sure to have plenty of non-challenging sitcoms that are specially designed to pander to you.